Chen Xiaobei held up the torch, walking and shouting.
He didn't walk much further before heading towards the place where he first discovered the quail eggs.
This place had been visited by Chen Dachun.
He shouted several times with no response. Chen Xiaobei thought for a moment: he had already collected all the quail eggs. Even if Chen Dachun had come, he had probably already left.
Thinking this, he turned around and started heading up the mountain again.
Unknowingly, he had walked another two or three miles. Chen Xiaobei began to reflect.
He had observed that the quail nesting grounds were within three miles of the foot of the mountain, meaning the quail didn't go too high. If he really wanted to collect quail eggs, he would have heard them if they were nearby.
Could it be… Dachun went up the mountain?
But there were no quail on the mountain.
Suddenly, Chen Xiaobei slapped his forehead.
Over the past few days, he had been going up the mountain alone, but he hadn't seen Dachun go up. This afternoon, when he and Cui Hongyu went up the mountain and left Qiao'er at Dachun's house, Dachun had gone up as well.
This meant they must have asked Qiao'er something.
Chen Xiaobei instantly understood.
Qiao'er must have told Dachun about the ginseng he found, which was why Dachun also wanted to go up the mountain to look for ginseng.
Once he figured this out, Chen Xiaobei had a clear goal.
Although he wasn't sure if Dachun knew there was ginseng at the mountain temple, one thing was certain: Dachun would definitely go deeper into the mountain.
So, if he continued toward the temple and even further up, he might find Dachun.
As he walked through the forest, the occasional rustling sounds of startled insects and birds made Chen Xiaobei feel a little scared.
But after listening carefully, he realized there was nothing else, which made him feel a bit more at ease.
Walking and shouting, shouting and walking.
Before he knew it, Chen Xiaobei had reached the mountain temple.
When he arrived, he walked around and seemed to find no trace of Dachun, which surprised him.
When he was a child, he and Dachun only went as far as the mountain temple. Could it be that Dachun had gone even further up?
He shouted a few more times, but just then, he heard a strange sound.
It was a soft rustling noise.
And it was close.
Chen Xiaobei looked around, and the only place he could hide was in the mountain temple.
At least the temple was a structure with walls, even though the roof had a large hole in it.
But the strange thing was, the sound seemed to stay in place and didn't come toward him.
Chen Xiaobei grew bolder. He shouted a few more loud calls in that direction.
Upon hearing his shouts, the sound stopped.
But after a while, the noise started again.
Chen Xiaobei shouted again, and the noise stopped once more.
At this point, Chen Ping and the others at the foot of the mountain heard Chen Xiaobei's strange cries. They exchanged glances and immediately stood up.
"What's that sound, Captain?"
San Jin listened carefully, "It doesn't sound like human voices. Could it be something else?"
While they were talking, Chen Xiaobei shouted again.
This time, the group couldn't stay calm anymore. Someone turned and started running down the mountain.
Once someone led, the others followed, their morale in disarray.
Seeing everyone rushing down the mountain, Chen Ping shook his head at the mountain, "Sigh, I can't be blamed for this. Xiao Bei, take care of yourself."
At that moment, Chen Xiaobei had already left the mountain temple and was slowly moving towards the source of the sound. He looked carefully and saw a few small trees at the base of a nearby cliff.
That was where the sound had come from.
Chen Xiaobei approached the edge of the cliff, stretched out his torch to look down, and was startled by what he saw.
In the dark, it seemed like there was a person lying there.
He stretched the torch further down and was sure that it was indeed a person.
Looking around, he noticed a few protruding rocks nearby that could be used to climb down.
Without hesitation, Chen Xiaobei stuck the torch into a crack in the rocks, and quickly jumped down.
The person was about two yards from the path above, and it seemed they had been badly injured.
But as Chen Xiaobei got closer, he suddenly felt something was off—this person wasn't Dachun.
Yes, it wasn't Dachun.
Maybe sensing someone approaching, the person raised their head with difficulty and, facing Chen Xiaobei, managed to say two words, "Save me."
After that, they collapsed again, motionless.
Chen Xiaobei felt a bit disappointed. He had come to find Dachun, but this wasn't him. However, the person seemed severely injured, and he couldn't just leave them to die.
It seemed like this person had fallen from the cliff and was injured. Luckily, some small trees had stopped their fall; otherwise, if they had dropped all the way to the bottom, they would have been dead by now.
Chen Xiaobei ultimately decided to help. After all, saving a life was more valuable than anything.
But how could he get this person back up? The climb to the top was at least two yards high.
Chen Xiaobei took off his belt, shirt, and pants, tying them together to make a rope.
But this wasn't enough.
There was no choice, so he went ahead and removed the injured person's clothes.
He tied the clothes into a knot, twisting them into a rope. He attached a small stone to the end and threw it up to the top, then tied the person's shoulders to the rope.
The rope was long enough.
But when he got back to the top of the cliff, Chen Xiaobei was troubled again. There was nothing to anchor himself to, and he couldn't rely on just pulling the person up with his hands—there was no way that would work.
What to do now?
Reluctantly, Chen Xiaobei had no choice but to abandon that method. After gritting his teeth, he decided to use the most laborious method: going down to carry the person up.
Chen Xiaobei descended once more to the bottom of the cliff, helped the person to his feet, tied him to his back, and then slowly climbed up, step by step.
With each step, Chen Xiaobei felt like he might fall at any moment.
But inside his weak body, an immense strength began to surge.
Thinking of how Cui Hongyu was waiting for him to return, and of Chen Qiao'er's adorable face.
Chen Xiaobei gritted his teeth and pushed on.
Even though the rocky walls scraped his arms and legs, he was undeterred.
Step by step, he didn't know how long it had been, but finally, Chen Xiaobei made it to the top.
With a roll, he managed to get the person onto the cliff, and then collapsed beside him.
His chest heaved violently, and he gasped for breath.
Suddenly, the person next to him moved and grabbed his arm.
"Thank you."
Chen Xiaobei slowly sat up, using the firelight to carefully examine the person.
The person was thin, but it was clear that he was all muscle.
To be honest, it was lucky that this person was thin—if he had been fat, Chen Xiaobei definitely wouldn't have been able to carry him.
Chen Xiaobei sighed softly, "Brother, you'll need to rest here for a while. I need to go look for someone else."
The person suddenly pointed downward. "Down there, down there, there's someone."
"I... I... he..." The person said before fainting again.
Chen Xiaobei was startled. There was someone else at the bottom of the cliff. It was at least seven or eight yards high, and if they fell to the bottom...
Chen Xiaobei lit the torch that he had kept unlit and cautiously made his way down the cliff.
He descended to about four yards high and finally saw—there was indeed someone else down there.